The Swing: Dec. 29, 2020
On this week's episode of The Swing, Zach Heilprin and Jesse Temple discuss what went wrong against Maryland, talk about what went right against Michigan State, look at the Big Ten race and answer your Twitter questions.
PODCAST: Front Runner
Badgers Loss to Maryland (0:00)
Rodgers MVP Favorite (16:42)
Packers-Bears (27:50)
Former Badgers Fullback Matt Bernstein (39:34)
Maryland 70, (6) Wisconsin 64: Last word
A rough first half offensively gave way to an ugly second half defensively for Wisconsin as Maryland handed the sixth-ranked Badgers their first Big Ten loss 70-64 on Monday night.
Player of the Game: Eric Ayala
Maryland’s leading scorer came to play in the second half, scoring all 17 of his points after halftime. The guard went 5-for-8 from the field, including hitting his last four shots of the game. He was 2-for-3 from beyond the arc, perhaps none bigger than one as the shot clock expired to give Maryland a 48-45 lead with 7:27 left. It was a lead the Terrapins would not relinquish the rest of the game on their way to the upset.
The good: D’Mitrik Trice on offense
Trice had another big game offensively, following up his 29-point performance against Michigan State with a 25-point effort against Maryland. That included 15 after halftime and he was one of just two players to score in double figures. Trice, like most of the Badgers, had a rough night defensively, but he did more than his share on the offensive end.
The not so good: Second-half defense
What was that? One of the best defenses in the country got shredded by Maryland after halftime, especially in the final 16:14 of the game. The Terrapins trailed 31-24 and had missed 11 straight shots going back to the first half. But a layup from Ayala jump started them and they made 16 of their final 19 shots, most of them coming around the basket. Of the 16 makes, 13 were either dunks or layups. They finished with 38 points in the paint despite playing much of the night with no one taller than the 6-foot-7 Donta Scott on the floor.
Stat of the Game: 53.3%
That’s what Wisconsin shot from the free throw line. Only three players actually made it to line — Trice, Brad Davison and Tyler Wahl. Trice went 6-for-7, but Davison twice missed the front end of a 1-and-1 and Wahl was just 2-for-6. The struggles come less than a week after going 15-for-15 against Nebraska.
Best Tweets:
https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status/1343738928122228742
https://twitter.com/BarstoolBigCat/status/1343743741593612290
In Case You Missed It
— Wisconsin played without freshman Ben Carlson again due to what the team is calling an upper body injury. The forward hasn’t played since Dec. 15 and has seen the floor for just 4 minutes since Dec. 4.
— Freshman Johnny Davis score four points and grabbed three rebounds in 18 minutes. The Badgers were 10 points better than Maryland when he was on the floor and he was the only UW player to post a positive plus/minus number.
— Senior Trevor Anderson continued his hot shooting from outside to start the season. He went 2-for-2 on 3-pointers and is now 8-for-9 on the year.
-- The game snapped Wisconsin's 15-game home winning streak and its 10-game Big Ten winning streak. It was also the second time a top-10 Badgers squad has lost to an unranked team this year.
What’s next?
Wisconsin (8-2, 2-1) will try to bounce back as they host No. 21 Minnesota (9-1, 2-1) on New Year’s Eve.
Badgers: RB Jalen Berger likely to play Wednesday, WRs Danny Davis and Kendric Pryor likely out
It appears Wisconsin will once again be shorthanded on offense when it takes the field against Wake Forest on Wednesday in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.
Coach Paul Chryst told reporters Monday that wide receivers Danny Davis and Kendric Pryor “haven’t done much” in the lead up to the bowl game. Their lack of work on the field likely means they will miss the game. Davis hasn’t played since Nov. 14 due to an undisclosed injury, while Pryor has missed all but a half of the last four games with what the program called an upper body injury.
In their absence, the onus will fall on senior Jack Dunn and true freshman Chimere Dike to pick up the slack. Dunn had the best game of his career the last time out in the win over Minnesota. He caught seven passes for 76 yards and a touchdown. Dike has started all but one game this year and has 10 catches for 154 yards and a score. Another true freshman, Devin Chandler, along with sophomore AJ Abbott and senior Adam Krumholz, could also see increased playing time.
There was good news from Chryst, too. He said running back Jalen Berger has practiced during bowl prep. The true freshman missed the last two games after testing positive for COVID-19 the day before the Badgers played at Iowa. Had the Big Ten still had its 21-day sit rule for a positive test in place, Berger wouldn’t be eligible to play. But the league changed its policy earlier this month, moving it to 17 days, which will allow for Berger to take the field.
Despite playing in just three games, Berger is Wisconsin’s leading rusher with 267 yards. He's averaged 5.9 yards per carry, which is the best among the Badgers running backs.
Kick on Wednesday in Charlotte is slated for 11 a.m.
Badgers up to No. 6 in latest AP Top 25
Wisconsin continued its climb up the AP Top 25 poll Monday.
Following the Badgers wins against Nebraska and at Michigan State, they moved up three spots in the latest poll to No. 6 in the country. It’s the second-highest spot Wisconsin has held this year after previously coming in at No. 4 in the second week of the poll.
The Badgers are the highest ranked Big Ten team but far from the only one in the poll. A total of nine of the 14 teams made it this week. That includes Iowa at No. 10, Rutgers at No. 14, Illinois at No. 15, Michigan at No. 16, Michigan State at No. 17, Northwestern at No. 19, Minnesota at No. 21 and Ohio State at No. 25. As you’d expect, that is the most teams in the poll of any conference.
Wisconsin, Michigan and Northwestern are the only unbeaten teams left in conference play. The Badgers will host Maryland and Minnesota this week at the Kohl Center.
You can find the full poll here.
PODCAST: Weathered & True
Packers Win & Defense Holds (0:00)
Wisconsin-Michigan State Basketball (11:38)
Packers-Titans & Rodgers MVP (18:34)
Sports Director Zach Heilprin (35:18)
Bucks/Giannis Epiphany (50:18)
JJ Watt Sound Bite (58:27)
Bucks get blown out by the Knicks in New York
NEW YORK (AP) — Tom Thibodeau’s first victory as Knicks coach came surprisingly easy against a top opponent, as New York routed the Milwaukee Bucks 130-110 on Sunday night.
Julius Randle had 29 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists, Elfrid Payton scored 27 points in his best game as a Knick, and New York led by as much as 28 against the team that had the best record in the NBA the previous two seasons.
The Knicks were among the NBA’s worst during that time but are hoping for a turnaround under Thibodeau, the former Coach of the Year who engineered comebacks in Chicago and Minnesota.
“As long as we’re putting the work into it, we’ll get better,” Thibodeau said.
The Knicks opened his tenure by hanging with Indiana and Philadelphia for a half before those teams pulled away in the final two quarters.
This time, they used a 16-2 run late in the first half to open a 61-43 lead, then got 12 points apiece from Randle and Payton in the third to make it a 21-point lead heading to the fourth. The Knicks opened the final period with seven straight points for a 103-75 bulge.
“We put good halves together against Indiana and last night,” Randle said. “We’ve just got to put the second half, full game together and that’s what we did tonight.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 27 points and 13 rebounds for the Bucks, who were coming off a 39-point trouncing of Golden State on Christmas and looking to build momentum before playing two straight games in Miami against the team that eliminated them in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Teams are sometimes being scheduled for consecutive road games in one city this season as a way to reduce traveling during the coronavirus pandemic.
But after going 20 for 37 on 3-pointers Friday, the Bucks were 7 for 38 (18%) behind the arc against the Knicks. They also allowed the Knicks to shoot 54% from the field and 59% from 3-point range.
“They had a great night shooting and we’ve probably got be a lot better defensively,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said.
Alec Burks scored 18 points and RJ Barrett bounced back from a poor performance against Philadelphia with 17 as the Knicks had plenty of offense even without injured rookies Obi Toppin (calf) and Immanuel Quickley (hip) for the second straight game.
Frank Ntilikina had 12 points on 4-for-4 shooting from 3-point range, making New York’s point guards 7 for 7 behind the arc. Payton made all three of his attempts as part of a 12-for-16 night overall.
“I think we all know we have to be better,” Bucks reserve Bobby Portis said.
Packers 40, Titans 14: 2-minute drill
Aaron Rodgers threw for four scores, three of them to Davante Adams, as the Green Bay Packers rolled to a 40-14 win over Tennessee at a snowy Lambeau Field Sunday night.
Game Balls
Offense: Davante Adams
Adams wanted the offensive game ball to go to running back AJ Dillon but he deserves this. He caught 11 passes for 142 yards and a career-high tying three touchdowns. Unlike in recent weeks where teams double covered him, the Titans only concentrated that kind of attention on him a couple times. But even when they did send two guys at the Pro Bowl wide receiver he found a way to get loose, including on his second touchdown of the night.
Adams now sits just three catches short and one touchdown shy of Sterling Sharpe’s team records of 112 receptions and 18 scores in a single season.
https://twitter.com/BookOfEli_NFL/status/1343425020043911168?s=20
Defense: Everyone
Tennessee came into the game leading the NFL in scoring and had the league’s leading rusher in Derrick Henry. All the Packers did was hold the Titans to a season-low 14 points.
Henry got 98 yards but it took him 23 carries to get it and his longest run was just 10 yards. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill scored on a 45-yard run, but was basically shut down in the passing game. He completed only 45.8% of his passes for a season-low 121 yards. He was picked off twice and had 10 of his passes knocked down.
Green Bay got to Tannehill just twice for sacks but they were constantly in his face, especially outside linebacker Rashan Gary, who had five quarterback hurries.
It’s not hard to say it was the best effort from that side of the ball this year and it came on a huge stage with the entire league watching.
Special Teams: JK Scott
He gets the game ball because he finally made a tackle. After being embarrassed on two punt returns for touchdowns earlier this year, Scott tracked down Amani Hooker on a a blocked field goal. The tackle didn’t count because the play was called back but we all witnessed Scott’s greatness.
Best Video
https://twitter.com/Basaraski/status/1343428183249604615
Best Tweets
https://twitter.com/AndyHermanNFL/status/1343373910289616902
https://twitter.com/AaronNagler/status/1343378161149554688
https://twitter.com/ebosays/status/1343379254969511942
https://twitter.com/RieseDraft/status/1343396304437837824
https://twitter.com/zachkruse2/status/1343398077168803842
https://twitter.com/CharlesWoodson/status/1343422081124462594
In Case You Missed It
— After missing the last three games with an injury, center Corey Linsley returned and got the start.
— Former sixth-round pick Equanimeous St. Brown caught a 21-yard touchdown in the second quarter, the first score of his career.
— The Packers didn’t punt for the first time this year and also didn’t commit a single penalty. It’s just the second time in the Super Bowl era that a team accomplished that.
https://twitter.com/StatsBySTATS/status/1343416555745509377
— Green Bay’s 2020 second-round pick AJ Dillon had a career night, rushing for 124 yards and his first two touchdowns. Dillon did have a bit of an issue on his Lambeau Leaps and needed a push from wide receiver Allen Lazard on his second to make it into the stands.
https://twitter.com/ScottGrodsky/status/1343398468325265409
-- Running back Aaron Jones had 94 yards rushing, which pushed him over the 1,000-yard mark for a second straight season. With 1,062 yards he needs just 23 yards to eclipse his career-high for a season.
— Starting right tackle Rick Wagner left the game in the third quarter with a knee injury and was later carted to the locker room. Billy Turner moved into his spot with Lucas Patrick replacing Turner at right guard.
Inside the Numbers
4 — That’s how many extra points Mason Crosby has missed this year. That’s the most in his career. The struggles are a bit confusing as Crosby is 16-for-16 on field goals.
487 — That’s how many times Aaron Rodgers has completed a pass to Davante Adams in his career. According to Packers.com’s Wes Hodkiewicz, that’s the most in team history.
https://twitter.com/WesHod/status/1343388532157669377
4 — That’s how many interceptions Darnell Savage has this year with all of them coming in the last five games.
https://twitter.com/packers/status/1343376901675642880?s=20
44 — That’s how many touchdowns Aaron Rodgers has, which leads the NFL and is one shy of his career best. It’s also the same number of punts JK Scott has this year.
31.6 — That’s how many points the Packers are averaging this year, tops in the NFL.
6 — That’s how many times Aaron Rodgers has thrown four or more touchdowns in his 15 games this year. That’s the same number he had in his previous 51 games.
What’s Next
Green Bay (12-3) will travel to Chicago (8-7) for the final game of the regular season. With a win, the Packers will claim the No. 1 seed in the NFC and get a first-round bye. The Bears must win to claim one of the NFC Wild Card spots.
(9) Wisconsin 85, (12) Michigan State 76: Last word
No. 9 Wisconsin got 29 points from D’Mitrik Trice as the Badgers beat No. 12 Michigan State 85-76 on Friday in East Lansing.
Player of the Game: D’Mitrik Trice
Playing in front of a large number of his family members for the first time this year, the senior guard delivered a season-high 29 points. All but 11 of that came after halftime when at one point Trice was almost outscoring the Spartans by himself. When Wisconsin fell down 51-42 a few minutes into the second half, Trice scored the next 13 to get the Badgers back into the game. Trice probably would have liked to have hit more of his free throws down the stretch but he still went 8-for-11 to close things out.
The good: A road win
Wisconsin had played at the Breslin Center 12 times since 2004 and lost every time, including as the No. 1 team in the country in 2007. Sure, there weren’t fans at the arena on Friday, but the Badgers still went into East Lansing and outplayed a Michigan State team that was coming off an ugly loss at Northwestern. Wisconsin has now won 10 straight Big Ten games, including four on the road and half of those against top 25 teams.
The not so good: First-half defense
Michigan State got a lot of good looks and took advantage. The Spartans shot 58.6% (17-for-29) from the field and all four of their 3-pointers. It included 18 points in the paint. The Badgers locked in for the second half, especially over the final stretch of the game, holding Michigan State to 35.7% from the field.
Stat of the Game: 2
That’s how many turnovers Wisconsin had in their final 59 possessions after turning it over five times in the first nine possessions.
Best Video:
https://twitter.com/BadgerMBB/status/1342559525182734336
https://twitter.com/BadgerMBB/status/1342490460498100224
Best Tweets:
https://twitter.com/hoijim/status/1342552234509430785
https://twitter.com/dekker/status/1342557602987782145
https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status/1342556796356067329
In Case You Missed It
— Senior Aleem Ford fouled out, but he gave the Badgers a huge lift to start things out. He had 11 early points to get Wisconsin going and finished with 13 for the game.
— Wisconsin shot 42.1% (8-for-19) from beyond the arc. It’s the fifth time in nine games the Badgers have shot north of 40% on 3-pointers.
— Michigan State allowed families of players to attend, including those from Wisconsin.
What’s next?
Wisconsin (8-1, 2-0) will head home to face Maryland on Monday night at the Kohl Center.
Rally comes up short in Bucks season-opening loss at Boston
The new look Milwaukee Bucks did not get their season off to a good start Wednesday night.
Jayson Tatum hit a step-back 3-pointer off the glass with .4 seconds remaining to give Boston a 122-120 lead. After a timeout to set up the final play, Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo got fouled at the rim and was given two free throws with no time left. He hit the first but missed the second and the Bucks lost 122-121.
https://twitter.com/espn/status/1341943518185414656
Milwaukee was only in the game that late because of a monster fourth quarter from Antetokounmpo. The Bucks trailed by 17 entering the final period but their star scored 17 points in a 31-12 run to give the team a 115-113 lead with 3:26 left. The two sides traded buckets with new addition Jrue Holiday hitting a step-back 3-pointer to give Milwaukee a 120-119 lead prior to the Tatum heroics.
Antetokounmpo finished with 35 points, 13 rebounds and two assists, while also turning it over a team-high seven times and picking up five fouls.
Middleton gave the club 27 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists, while Holiday had 25 points and six rebounds in his debut. Donte DiVincenzo, in his new starting role, had 15 points, most of it in the first half. The Bucks bench gave them just 12 points.
Boston was led by Jaylen Brown’s 33 points, while Tatum added 30. Jeff Teague gave the Celtics 19 off the bench.
Milwaukee will now head back to Fiserv Forum for the home opener on Christmas Day against Golden State.
